South Sydney representative forward Ben Te’o has rejected claims he allegedly assaulted a woman in Brisbane.
Details of the woman’s assault claims are set be aired on the Nine Network on Wednesday night.
Two other NRL footballers are expected to be named in the TV report, but it is believed they were not directly involved in the incident.
The NRL’s integrity unit will investigate the matter.
“I have not been informed of the exact nature of the news story, however I am able to refute entirely any suggestion that I acted improperly,” the Queensland State of Origin forward said in a statement on Wednesday.
“I found myself in unfortunate circumstances that were not caused by me and I acted appropriately to deal with a difficult situation.
“I called the police to report the incident and have the female removed from the house.
“I have not pressed charges against the female and to the best of my knowledge no charges have been laid against me.”
South Sydney CEO Shane Richardson fronted the media after Te’o’s statement was issued.
“We’re not going to stand Ben down at this stage. The reality is we want to go through the due procedure with the NRL,” Richardson said.
“We discussed with the NRL the whole situation.
“…They (the NRL’s integrity unit) will do a thorough investigation, which they’ve already commenced.
“Once those investigations have been completed, we’ll probably make more comment about it then.”
Richardson said Teo informed the club of the incident on the day after the event, the club not having had any contact from police.
The incident is understood to have happened in Brisbane on April 20, the night after the Australia-New Zealand rugby league Test played in Canberra.
The Nine Network has promoted the story it says will rock the game, showing images of the woman’s face with a blackened left eye accompanied by three silhouettes of the players.
The story is introduced: “Three NRL stars, one young girl. How did it all go so terribly wrong?
“I was just laying in the hallway with blood everywhere. I could have been dead for all they knew,” the woman says during a clip from the interview.
The assault is believed to have taken place in the home of a Brisbane NRL player.
The other two footballers play for different NRL clubs.
Richardson rejected the suggestion his club’s on-field fortunes had anything to do with their treatment of Te’o.
Souths are currently on top of the NRL competition.
“Us not standing him down has got nothing to do with us winning the game against Cronulla on Monday night,” he said.
“It’s got everything to do with the process involved.
“… We asked him is he wanted to stand down and he said no.”